


tintinabulation

by bicroft



Series: Ho-Ho-Hockey RPF Advent Calendar 2018 [1]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 19:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16817224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicroft/pseuds/bicroft
Summary: (for the Ho-Ho-Hockey RPF Advent Calendar 2018. Day 1: Bells)On the first chime, Auston told himself he was going to do it.





	tintinabulation

**Author's Note:**

> This is a self-imposed challenge of writing a holiday inspired fic every day leading up to Christmas for a random Hockey RPF ship! First day down, twenty four to go.
> 
> Today's prompt is "bells."

On the first chime, Auston told himself he was going to do it.

He’d been telling himself he was going to do it all night- all _year_ , probably longer- but, as the bells chimed their first of twelve on New Years Eve, he was going to make _sure_ that he kissed Freddie.

Second chime. Auston exhaled, and watched his breath crystalize in front of him. It was fucking _freezing_ , snowing, and that shouldn’t have been a surprise because it was Toronto in fucking January, but he still hadn’t quite made the adjustment from sunny Arizona to Canadian winters. Freddie’d made fun of him for coming out all bundled up today, when they’d met up, but today Auston was willing to sacrifice a little bit of fashion for the guarantee that he’d have his nose when he woke up in the morning. Freddie, of course, looked just as suave and handsome as he always did, which did absolutely nothing to boost Auston’s confidence in Operation Kiss Freddie at Midnight.

Third chime. Fourth chime. He reached out, but didn’t take Freddie’s hand- just bumped their gloves together. Freddie turned to look at him, and flashed a smile that made Auston’s stomach flip and his heart rate ratchet up to shootout levels. “Cold?” Freddie chirped- Auston was _sure_ it _should_ sound like a chirp, anyway. It didn’t; he was teasing him, sure, but it sounded- weighted. Intimate.

Auston shrugged, and saddled just a little bit closer to Freddie under the guise of siphoning off some warmth. “I’m good.”

Fifth. Sixth. Freddie laughed and pegged him with a look that clearly said “sure you are, bud.”

Seven. Eight. Auston sucked in a breath, and shoved his hands in his pockets so he didn’t have to come to terms with the fact that they were shaking, just a little bit. He shouldn’t care; he’d made his moves before, never had trouble throwing out lines, leaning in for kisses, asking girl after girl after guy after girl if they wanted to maybe head back to his place, watch a movie, stay the night. But, this wasn’t just any girl after girl after guy. This was _Freddie_. Freddie Anderson, his Freddie. His goalie, his friend, the guy he spent his summers watching burn but never tan on the beach, the guy he texted late at night when he needed to bother someone to get out of his own head. The stakes were much higher than just him saying no, or going to a tabloid about it. If Auston fucked this up-

Seven. If Auston fucked this up.

Eight. If Auston fucked this up- he didn’t want to think about what would happen. What kind of nightmare scenarios might come of this. Seeing Freddie look at him with pity, disgust, whatever else- anything but the easy smile they shared between them now. Seeing Freddie on the other side of the ice, in red, orange, gold- anything but the Leafs blue and white.

He shivered. Nine. Ten.

“Happy New Year, Matts,” Freddie whispered. They were much closer than Auston thought they were.

Eleven. “Happy New Year, Fred.” Now or never, now or never-

Twelve.

Auston wasn’t sure which of them turned in first, leaned in first- all he knew was, one second, he was thinking ‘fuck it’, and then next, Freddie mouth was on his, kissing back- _kissing back_.

The world around them was cheering in the New Year when they pulled away, and Auston felt like it was the crowd SBA cheering for him- for _them_.

“Good way to ring it it.” Freddie’s smiling- _smiling_ , bright and beautiful in a way that Auston almost _never_ got to see.

“Yeah.” Auston can’t stop the edge of laughter in his voice. HIs hands are tangled in the front of Freddie’s coat, and he’s not inclined to let him go. “Wanna maybe ring it in again?”

Freddie just laughs, and pulls him in for another kiss.

The bells are silence, but Auston’s ears are still ringing.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to keep up with the challenge, check me out on tumblr @genobell (or, if you're finding this after the Christmas season, @sidsknees.)


End file.
